Anchor controlling device



D. E. RICE ANCHOR CONTROLLING DEVICE Jan. 2, 1951 Filed Feb. 27, 1946 INVENTOR. 5 E1166 ATTOk/VCY.

Patented Jan. 2, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ANCHOR CONTROLLING DEVICE Dell E. Rice, South Bend, Ind. Application February 27, 1946, Serial No. 650,480

6 Claims. I

This invention relates to a mechanism for remote control of a boat anchor, wherein an anchor attached to the bow of the boat by means of a rope or cable is controlled from a position in the boat remote from the bow.

Th present application discloses improvements in my copending application Serial Number 541,091, filed June 19, 1944, issued May 25, 1948, as Patent No. 2,442,211.

It is an object of the present invention to provide'improved means for supporting the anchor in weighed position, and for maintaining it in such position while preventing rocking or swinging movement thereof due to the motion of the boat.

A further object of the invention is to provide a keeper mechanism which may be secured to bows of various designs, and which shall maintain the anchor in vertical position when weighed.

A further object of the invention is to provide an ornamental bowplate to be secured to a boat of any of various types or designs, in such relation as to harmonize with the symmetrical lines of the boat itself.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for yieldingly securing the anchor in fixed position relative to a keeper, to thereby prevent oscillating movement of the anchor when weighed.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, taken in connection with the appended drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a view in elevation, with parts broken away, of a boat equipped with apparatus ernbodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a View in elevation, with parts broken away, of the bowplate and anchor in the weighed position;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4- 3 of Fig. 2.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

The boat shown in Fig. 1 may be of any type propelled by oars, or by outboard or inboard motor. As shown, it is provided with an after seat I2. The bow [8 of the boat is provided with the usual stem l9 and with a deck plate 25 upon which is mounted, as by screws 2|, a bowplate 22, which includes a supporting plate 24 resting upon the deck plate 2d, and a forwardly extending guide member 26 provided with an angular channel 28 within which is mounted a pulley 30 upon a transverse spindle 3 I. The upper portion of member 26 is provided with a handhold aperture 32, which may also serve as a securing means for a painter or tow-line, and is also provided with a rearwardly extending ornament 33.

The channel 28 is designed to receive a cable 34 to which is secured, by means hereinafter described, the anchor 36. The cable 3 5 may be a rope or other type of flexible cable. From the anchor it extends over the pulley 3D and thence aft through slip-eyes or pulleys 38 to a reel 39. The reel 39 is provided with a manually operable crank 40 for reeling in the cable, and with a brake lever 4| for retarding or arresting the paying out of the cable by the weight of the anchor. It may also be provided with other mechanism such as is described in my copending application above identified.

The anchor is preferably of the mushroom type shown, and is formed at its upper end with a tapered shank 42 which when the anchor is-in the weighed position enters into and is held stationary by a keeper ring 43 formed integral with the portion 26 and located below the pulley 39. At its lower end, the shank 42 is enlarged to form a shoulder 44 designed to abut against the keeper ring 43 and prevent swinging or oscillating movement of the anchor due to the rocking movement of the boat. The lower or body portion 45 of the anchor is approximately hemispherical, and is prov ded with an annular shoulder 4? for engaging the lake bottom to resist dragging. Between the portion 45 and the shank 42 is a cylindrical portion 59, the diameter of which is intermediate between the diameters of the portion 45 and the shank 32.

The anchor is formed with an axial bore 46 which terminates at its lower end in an enlarged cylindrical aperture 48. The cable 34 extends through th bore 46 and terminates in an externally threaded plug 55], preferably formed of cold rolled steel, and which is securely fastened to the cable as by swaging Or other suitable process. The plug 50 is preferably of such diameter as to permit it toenter the bore 46. A nut 52 is threaded onto the plug 50 and is held in place by a lock nut 54, while a washer 56 is provided at the upper end of the aperture 48. Between the washer and the nut 52 is mounted a compression spring 58, designed to be compressed by tension on the cable 34.

In order to maintain the anchor .in fixed rela tion to the keeper ring .3 and prevent swinging movement of the anchor, it is desirable that the ring be approximately horizontal and that the pulley 30 be so located relative to the keeper ring that the cable 34 will extend substantially vertically from the pulley to the anchor. It .-is also desirable in some installations, for esthetic efiect, to so position the ornament 33 as to make it harmonize with the outlines of the particular boat to which the device is attached. In order to accomplish these purposes, the plate 24 and member 25 of the bowplate are connected 'together by a hinge joint formed by a bolt and :nut assembly 60 passing through apertured overlapping flanges in the members .2'4 and '26.

At the rear of the keeper ring 43, the member 26 is provided with projecting flanges '62, spaced to receive "the forward end of an angular bracket (i l which is secured to the stem 19 by screws 66, 61. The screw 65 .is seated at'the bottom of a bore '68 in the horizontal portion of the bracket, which is hingedly connected to the flanges 62 by a bolt and nut assembly 10.

In the various types of boats upon which the device of the present invention may be "installed the stem 19 may be vertical or may be inclined, and the deck plate 29 may be horizontal or may be inclined either forwardly or .rearwardly. .In installing the bowplate 'of the present invention, the supporting plate 24 is first held in place .on the deck plate .20 in such position that the bolt 60 is in approximately the desired fore-.and-aft relation to the stem 19, and the positions of plate 24 and bracket 64 are then adjusted until the desired position of the ornament 33 and keeper ring '43 .are obtained, whereupon screws 21, t6 and 61 are inserted to secure the assembly in position. By this means, the relation between pulley .30, keeper ring 43 and the anchor 36 is determined and it is possibleto mount theassembly on any type of bow in a manner which will cause the ornament 313 to harmonize esth'etically with the lines of the boatitself,

I the operation .of the device, "the operator drops the anchor byreleasing the brake lever 41., and weighs anchor by manually rotating reel 39 by .means of crank ll] until the shoulder 44 engages the keeper ring 43. He then :puts enough additional tension upon the cable to compress the spring 58, and locks the reel by means of the brake .lever4 I ,so that the anchor is held against the keeper ring with sufiicient yielding tension to take up'any'slack-due to'slight elongation of the cable or slippage -of the brake. In this manner the amber is retained :in weighed position-under such'tension as to prevent it from'swinging and damaging the boat or 'bowplate mechanism.

The parts constituting the device may be formed 'of-cast aluminum or other metal, or may be made of plastic material of any type "having 4 sufficient strength and other desired characteristics.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment thereof, it may be embodied in other forms within the skill of artisans in this art, and is therefore not limited except i accordance with the terms of the following claims.

I claim:

l. Anchor mechanism for a boat having a deck plate adjacent its stem, comprising a guide member designed to project forwardly of said stem, said guide member being provided with a pulley and a keeper, .an anchor shaped to .be received in said keeper, a cable secured to the anchor and adapted to be passed over said pulley, a securing member hingedly related to said guide member and adapted to be secured to the deck plate, and

a second securing member hingedly related to said -,:g=uide member and adapted to be secured to the stem,

Anchor mechanism for a boat having a stem .and a deck plate adjacent thereto, comprising a guide member designed to project forwardly of '3. Anchor mechanism for a boat having-a stemand a deck plate adjacent thereto, comprising a guide member designed to project forwardly of said stem, said guide member being providedwith a pulley and a keeper located below the pulley in spaced relation thereto, an anchor having its upper portion shaped to be received in said keeper, a cable secured to the anchor and adapted to engage said pulley, and securing members hingedly related to the guide member at spacedpoints and adapted to be secured respectively to the deck plate and to the stem.

4. Anchor mechanism for a boat having a stem and a deck plate adjacent thereto, comprising a bowplate designed to project forwardly of said stern, said bowplate being provided with a pulley and a keeper ring, an anchor having its upper portion shaped to be received in said keeper ring, a cable secured to the anchor and adapted "to engage said pulley to be manipulated from the interior of the boat, and securing members hingedly related to'the bowplate at spaced points and having fastening means adapted to secure them respectively to the deck plate and to the bowplate for securing the same respectively to the stem and to a substantially horizontal portion ofthe boat, anti-friction means mounted in .said channel, a cable passing through said channel and engaging said anti-friction means, an anchor suspended by said cable and formed with an enlarged lower portion and a tapered upper portion, and akeeper ring located below the "antifriction means and shaped to .receive said upper portion .and restrain the anchor against movement when the same is raised by .means of the cable.

'6. Anchormechanism for a .boat having .astem and an approximatel horizontal member adjacent the upper end of the stem, comprising a bowplate designed to project forwardly of said stem, said bowplate being provided with anti-friction means and a keeper ring, an anchor having its upper portion shaped to be received in said keeper ring, a cable having a yielding connection to the anchor and adapted to engage said anti-friction means to be manipulated from the interior of the boat, and securing members hingedly related to the bowplate at spaced points and having fasten ing means for securing them respectively to the stem and to the approximately horizontal member.

DELL E. RICE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 730,009 Duncanson June 2, 1903 895,648 Laubeuf Aug. 11, 1908 1,414,992 Meier May 2, 1922 1,636,760 Swift July 26, 1927 1,784,500 Spear Dec. 9, 1930 1,800,851 Wennerstrom Apr. 14, 1931 2,203,390 Maxwell June 4, 1940 2,283,500 Holgerson May 19, 1922 

